The anatomy of a bad speech

… I’m reminded of the words by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus—“Character is destiny.”

If that’s true, then our lives are not so much formed by events happening in the so-called “outside world,” as they are by our own inner values and qualities.

And I think that’s a wise way to look at our destiny. Why? Because we have a lot more control over our own internal choices than we do over the flux of events going on outside us.

In fact, let me share a quick personal story with you about controlling our own choices.

I had my first retail job at age 15. I worked at a small shop not too far from here … that sold and serviced bicycles. And my boss, a man named John Clark, noticed that I seemed to worry about a lot of things.

One day, he taught me an important lesson.

So what are some of these core values that can help shape us as leaders of positive change? This morning, I’d like to discuss six attributes of great leaders … attributes that can help move our country and the world in positive directions.

The first characteristic is trust: Leaders must be trustworthy, a quality most of us start off learning in our families.